The popularity of smartphones has pushed the development of more apps to help consumers handle their financial affairs.

By Sandra Block, USA TODAY

Busy people who use their smartphones to check their bank balances, transfer funds and pay bills have a new reason to bypass banks and ATMs: They can use their phones to deposit checks.

Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase updated its iPhone app to allow customers to electronically deposit checks. To make a deposit, customers photograph the front and back of the check with the phone's built-in camera, then transmit the image to their account.

USAA has offered a deposit app since last August. Customers have used it to deposit 1.5 million checks worth more than $900 million, spokesman Paul Berry says.

Bank of America has tested a mobile deposit app but hasn't set a launch date, spokeswoman Tara Burke says.

USAA, which serves members of the military and their families, had a strong incentive to offer the mobile deposit: It has only one branch, located in San Antonio. Customers outside San Antonio can use other banks' ATMs for cash withdrawals, but in the past, they had to deposit checks by mail.

"We know some iPhone users are passionate about using their iPhones for anything possible, and we are happy to help," he says.

Chase's decision to offer mobile deposit will force other banks to seriously consider offering their own app, says Bob Meara, senior analyst at Celent, a research firm. Because of its non-traditional structure, "a lot of banks were dismissive of USAA," he says. "They can't be dismissive of Chase."

USAA and Chase say they've installed several features to protect app depositors from fraud.

The innovation comes as the use of checks is declining. From 2007 to 2009, the number of checks handled by the Federal Reserve fell 14%. The Fed processes about a third of the USA's checks.

Still, even the most tech-savvy consumers sometimes need to deposit old-fashioned paper checks. Daniel O'Leary, 27, of Long Beach, Calif., uses USAA's app to deposit checks he receives from his grandparents on his birthday.

O'Leary, a content manager for a software company, says he'd use the deposit app even if USAA had a branch in his area.

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